UEFA To Close Loophole In Wake Of Chelsea’s Record £460m Splurge On New Signings

Posted by Samson Kankan Latest Headlines, Sports News Tuesday, January 24th, 2023

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – UEFA are set to close the loophole which has enabled Chealsea to spread their record transfer fees up to eight years.

A number of Chelsea rivals has accused Chelsea of cheating the FFP regulations by using amortization to spread the cost of Mykhailo Mudryk’s £88million fee over eight years for accounting purposes.

FIFA statutes already set five years as the maximum contract length, but exceptions are permitted, which Chelsea have utilized to defer much of the cost of the record £460 million transfer spending since Todd Boehly bought the club last July.

In addition to Mudryk, who signed the longest contract in the history of the Premier League, French defender Benoit Badiashile and Ivory Coast striker David Datro Fofana both signed six-and-a-half year deals this month after the arrivals of Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella on seven and six-year contracts respectively last summer.

The rule change will not affect Chelsea’s recent signings, but is likely to limit their room for maneuver in subsequent transfer windows.

Chelsea’s lavish spending over the summer and January transfer windows has shattered records, with the figure of £460m already the highest in the world and the highest in Premier League history, and expected to rise further.

The previous record was set by Manchester City, who spent £328.1 million in 2017-18.